Third-rail guard for electric railways.



PATENTBD APR.'28, 1903.

J. MARTIN, v THIRD RAILGUARD PoR ELECTRIC RAILWAYst.

v APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23,11903.,

,WH NU l .I

N0 MODEL.

Arron/vers WIT/VESSEL? 5/@ NrrE STATES ATENT.

JACOB MAARTIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPECIFIGATION formingpart cf Letters Patent No. 726,721, dated April 28, 1903.

Application filed January 23, 1903. Serial No. 140,210. (No model To all whom, t may concern: Be it known that I, JACOB MARTIN, a citizen of the United States,residingat New York,

tric Railways,of which the following isa specilication, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the at 77,3, said guard or protector being divided The object of this invention is to provide1 Smeau improved guard or protector for the third rail of an electric railway whereby the col-` lection of sleet, snow, ice, and rust on said rail is prevented, the construction and arrangement of the guard or protector being such that it will not interfere with the construction of the contact-shoe and will always cover said rail, and thus prevent a person from coming inV contact therewith.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specicat'ion, of which the'accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a part of the third rail of an electric railway provided with my improved cover or protector and showing certain details of the construction which I employ in connection with the ordinary contactshoe; Fig. 2, a side view showing a portion of said rail, a portion of a track, and my improvement connected therewith; and Fign a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings forming part of this specication I have shown at a an ordinary third rail, at the opposite sides of Which are placed the usual vertically-arranged guards awhich extend the full length of the rail and which are higher than said rail. I have also shown in Fig. 3 at b one of the rails of the track and in Figs. 2 and 3 a part of a truck, the part of the truck shown consisting of the horizontal member c, which forms a part of the supports of the axles CZ and also two of the Wheels e of said truck. Connected with the truck member c is the Vusual arm f, which carries the contact-shoe g, and in the practice of my invention I secure to one of the rail-guards a2 a supplemental guard or protector h, which is composed of flexible material, preferably canvas, canvas and rubber, or any other suitable material, aud this connection is made by means of nails, screws, or tacks h2. The supplemental guard or protector h is wide enough to completely cover the rail a and the -side guards o2, and whenever thereis a curve in the track or whenever the rail a is curved, as shown in Fig. l, the supplemental guard or protector h is composed of sections, as shown transversely, as shown at h4, to form said section, and one end of each of these separate sections h3 isplaced beneath the corresponding end of the next section, as is also clearly indicated in Fig. l. I also connect with the truck member c a plow t', which preferably consists of a sheet of metal preferably bent to represent one end of an ellipse and the wider end of which is secured to the truck member c, as shown at t2, and provided with an openingz'g, through which the arm f passes. The free end of the plow'is bent downwardly at an abrupt angle, and the sides thereof are curved backwardly, and the end thereof in practice passes under the free edge of the supplemental guard or protector h. The said free edge of the supplemental guard or p'rotector is also preferably provided with alongitudinal strip h5, of flexible metal, which is secured thereto in any preferred way and which is intended to givestrength to the'said free edge of the supplemental guard or protector and to resist friction and wear occasioned by the plow i as it passesthereunder.

Secured to the truck member c near one of the axles d is an arm m, having a foot-piece m2, which passes over the free edge of the supplemental guard or protector and serves to force it back into position after the shoeg and plow have passed; but this arm m is not an absolutely essential feature and may or may not be employed.

The operation will be readily understood from the foregoing description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the following statement thereof. As the car moves along the track the nose of the plow t' passes under the free edge of the supplemental guard or protector and raises it, as shown in the drawings, and the shoe g moves over the surface of said rail, as usual in this class of devices, and as the car proceeds the ICO free edge of the supplemental guard or protector drops into position and the rail a is securely covered thereby at all times.

My invention is not limited to the material of which the supplemental guard or protector is composed nor to any particular means for securing one edge thereof, and when the sup plemental guard or protector is not desired for the purpose herein specified it may be taken off and may be replaced Whenever necessary. It will also be apparent that this improvement may be applied to any third-rail system, and my invention is notlimited to the manner of vconnecting the contact-shoe with the car nor to the form and construction of the plow 'L' as herein shown and described, and many changes in and modifications of the construction herein described may be made Without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.

Having f ully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A third rail for electric railways provided with a iexible guard or protector which is secured at one side thereof and is adapted to rest in a horizontal position thereover and the free edge of which is provided with a ilexible metal reinforcement or protector, and a motor-car provided with a contact-arm having a contact-shoe adapted to bear on said rail, said contact-arm being provided with a plow for raising the guard or protector, substantially as shown and described.

2. A third rail for electric railways provided With side guards and a flexible protector secured to one of said side guards and adapted to cover saidrail, and provided at its free edge with a exible reinforcing-strip, substantially as shown and described.

3. A third rail for electric railways provided with side guards and a iiexible protector secured to one of said side guards and adapted to cover said rail, and provided at its free edge with a flexible reinforcing-strip, and means connected With a car for raising the free edge of said protector to permit the contaet-shoe to bear on said rail, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 21st day of January, 1903.

JACOB MARTIN.

Witnesses:

J. C. LARsnN, F. A. STEWART. 

